Protective guard for a hypodermic needle

ABSTRACT

A protective guard is provided which may be taped, or otherwise attached, to the arm or other part of a patient&#39;&#39;s body to provide a cover or guard for a hypodermic needle during an intravenous injection, or the like. The protective guard is formed of a flexible plastic material, and it is configured to assume a variety of shapes to adapt itself to different inclinations of the hypodermic needle and to different parts of the body in which the needle may be injected.

Scardenzan Aug. 26, 1975 15 1 PROTECTIVE GUARD FOR A $722,508 3/1973Roberts 128/133 HYPODERMIC NEEDLE 3,782,383 1/1974 Thompson et a1.128/133 X Inventor: Anthony Scardenzan, 1535 W.

130th St.. Gardena, Calif. 90249 Filed: Mar. 29, 1974 Appl. No: 456,019

U.S. Cl 128/133; 128/214 R; l28/D1G. 6 Int. Cl. A61Ml 5/00 Field ofSearch... 128/214 R, 215, 221, 132 R,

128/133, DIG. 26, DIG. 6

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1965 Cooke 128/132 11/1970Wilks 128/2144 Primary Examiner-Dalton L. Truluck Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Jessup & Beecher [57] ABSTRACT A protective guard is provided whichmay be taped, or otherwise attached, to the arm or other part of apatients body to provide a cover or guard for a hypodermic needle duringan intravenous injection, or the like. The protective guard is formed ofa flexible plastic material, and it is configured to assume a variety ofshapes to adapt itself to different inclinations of the hypodermicneedle and to different parts of the body in which the needle may beinjected.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEU 1325575 3,901,226

SHEET 2 [If 2 PROTECTIVE GUARD FOR A HYPODERMIC NEEDLE BACKGROUND or THEINVENTION Intravenous feeding is a-technique by which nourishment isintroduced directly into a-vein of the patient. The usual prior artapparatus for intravenous feeding comprises a bottle of intravenoussolution which is inverted over a drip chamber, and which includes atube extending from the bottom of the drip chamber to a hypodermicneedle which is inserted into the vein of the patient.

Problems have been encountered in the past in assuring that the needlewill not inadvertently be knocked out of the vein during the intravenousfeeding operation. The purpose of the present invention is to provide aprotective guard which may be made of plastic, or other appropriatematerial, and which may be disposable. The protective guard of theinvention forms an open-ended enclosure for the hypodermic needle, andit is intended to be taped over the needle during the insertion so as toshield and protect the needle without interfering with the needle in anyway, or affecting the inclination with which it is inserted into thevein of the patient.

The protective guard of the invention is constructed so that it may beset to different heights and inclinations to accommodate differentneedle inclinations, and it also may be set to a variety ofconfigurations to adapt itself to the different parts of the patientsbody in which the needle may be inserted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. I is a somewhat schematicrepresentation of an intravenous feeding apparatus in which a hypodermicneedle is inserted into a vein in the arm of apatient, and showing themanner in which the protective guard of the invention is taped to thearm to protect the needle;

FIG. 2 is a perspective representation of one embodiment of theprotective of the invention; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 show a variety of configurations which the protectiveguard may assume, so as to adapt it to be fitted to various parts of thebody in which the needle is inserted, and to accommodate various needleinclinations.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT The apparatus shownin FIG. 1 includes, for example, a bottle of intravenous solutiondesignated which is suspended in an appropriate bracket 12 which, inturn, is mounted on a stand 14. The intravenous solution from the bottle10 passes through a drip chamber (not shown) and through a tube 16 to ahypodermic needle 18 which is injected into the vein of a patient.

In the illustration of FIG. 1, the hypodermic needle 18 is shown asinserted into a vein in the arm of the patient. However, in accordancewith usual medical practice, the needle may be inserted into other partsof the body. As explained above, an important feature of the structureof the present invention, is that it may be set to variousconfigurations to accommodate the different parts of the body in whichthe needle 18 may be injected, and to different inclinations of theneedle 18.

As shown particularly in FIG. 2, the protective guard of the invention,as designated 20, includes an elongated body having a concave-shapedcross-section and which, in turn, defines an open-ended closure for thehypodermic needle 18. The guard is formed, preferably, of aflexible'plastic material, and it may be disposable.

In the particular embodiment illustrated in the drawing, the guard isprovided with integral tabs 22 and 24 at the forward end, and withintegral tabs 26 and 28 at the rear end. The guard is also provided witha central notch 30 at each side which permits the body to be turnedabout an intermediate transverse axis. Further elongated mounting tabs32 and 34 extend longitudinally from the respective tabs 22 and 24.

As shown in FIG. 1, the protective guard 20 may be positioned over theneedle 18 with the tabs 22, 24, 26 and 28 turned outwardly, and with themounting tabs 32 and 34 extending around the arm of the patient. Theguard may be securely taped in place by appropriate adhesive tape 21.When in place, the guard forms a protective enclosure for the hypodermicneedle 18, but does not interfere with the needle in any way, so thatits injection into the vein of the patient is in no way affected.

As shown in FIG. 3, the protective guard may have a configuration A,which is the configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2, in which its body sectionis straight, and the tabs are fiat. The representation at B in FIG. 3 issimilar to that of A, but in which the body section is bent in onedirection; whereas in the representation C the body section is bent inthe opposite direction. In the representation D of FIG. 3, the tabs 22and 24 are bent down from the body section, with the mounting tabs 32and 34 being turned flat at right angles to the tabs 22 and 24. In therepresentation E of FIG. 3 the tabs 26 and 28 are turned down, and thetabs 22, 32, 24 and 34 are turned flat. Further configurations are shownin the representations F-K of FIG. 4.

It will be appreciated, therefore, that the guard of FIG. 2 may be bentto a variety of configurations, such as shown in representations A K ofFIG. 3, and additional combinations thereof, to accommodate differentinclinations of the injected hypodermic needle so as to have universalapplication and to fit different parts of the body in which the needlemay be inserted. In each instance, the guard is taped securely to thepatient, so as to form a protective shield for the needle without in anyway interfering with the original position in which the needle wasinserted into the patient.

The guard of the invention is inexpensive, and may be produced by massproduction techniques, so as to be disposable. As described, the guardhas a general form, or shape, which is constructed so that the guard mayhave universal bending and forming capabilities so that it may be fittedto any part of the body to achieve its intended purpose.

It will be understood that although a particular embodiment of theinvention has been shown and described, modifications may be made. It isintended in the claims to cover the modifications which come within thetrue spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A universal guard for a hypodermic needle, and the like, constructedto fit different parts of the body of a patient into which the needlemay be inserted, and which is adapted to be taped to the body and to bebent to a variety of configurations to form a protective shield for theneedle without interfering with the posiof deformable integral tabsmounted at the other end of the channel-like body portion, and a furtherpair of elongated mounting tabs integral with and extending outwardlyfrom the tabs of the second pair, said tabs permitting the body portionto be set to different heights and inclinations.

2. The universal guard defined in claim 1, in which said elongated bodyportion tapers from one end to the other.

1. A universal guard for a hypodermic needle, and the like, constructedto fit different parts of the body of a patient into which the needlemay be inserted, and which is adapted to be taped to the body and to bebent to a variety of configurations to form a protective shield for theneedle without interfering with the position in which the needle isinserted into the body, said guard including: an elongated open-endedchannel-like body portion formed of flexible plastic material adapted tobe mounted in an inverted position over the needle inserted into thebody of the patient to form an enclosure for the needle, said bodyportion having an intermediate notch therein on each side thereof topermit said body portion to be bent about an intermediate axis, a firstpair of deformable integral tabs mounted at one end of the channel-likebody portion, a second pair of deformable integral tabs mounted at theother end of the channel-like body portion, and a further pair ofelongated mounting tabs integral with and extending outwardly from thetabs of the second pair, said tabs permitting the body portion to be setto different heights and inclinations.
 2. The universal guard defined inclaim 1, in which said elongated body portion tapers from one end to theother.